Have you ever tasted a kind of snack, which is also of the traditional Chinese of forms of art—sugar painting.
Sugar painting started from the Ming Dynasty and became popular in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, many people made a living through sugar painting, setting up stalls(货摊)in crowded streets, in front of theatres and busy public places. And now it can still be found in many areas of China.
The sugar painters usually sit before a wooden table. On the side, there is a wooden plate with a revolvable arrow(可旋转箭头)on it. The plate is painted with different pictures such as a dragon, a bird, a flower and so on. After paying, the customers turn the arrow and wait till it stops. The picture pointed by the arrow is the one the painters will make.
Sugar painting is very different from normal painting. The sugar painters use syrup(糖浆)as the material, a spoon as the "paintbrush", and a smooth slab(台面)as the "paper". To make the syrup, they have to make sugar hot before painting. Since the syrup may become solid(固体的)if it cools, the painters have to produce the work very quickly. They move the spoon full of the syrup up and down, left and right. Soon a sugar painting of an animal, a flower or a bike is done.
The number of sugar painters is getting smaller. However, some of them still insist on this art. They make their efforts to hold different activities such as offering classes and giving speeches. Now, sugar painting has already been listed as National Non-Material Culture Heritage.
